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Nathan Barley DVD - Well Fucking People Like Us Series 2?

Started by TJ, June 27, 2005, 02:22:02 PM

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TJ

There's a rumour that the release of the planned Nathan Barley DVD has been cancelled due to 'lack of interest'. Has anyone heard any more about this?

Neville Chamberlain

Not heard anything about the NB DVD, but does your thread title imply the reason the People Like Us Series 2 DVD has not been released is due to a lack of interest???

If so, that's nothing short of criminal.

Jon_Norton

Quote from: "TJ"the planned Nathan Barley DVD has been cancelled due to 'lack of interest'.

Amongst whom - the public, or the poor fuckers who have to compile it?

I would have though PLU2 would get a better chance now that D.Tennant is being elevated into stardom. He did the episode about an aspiring actor. Not quite the same as Meet Ricky Gervais, but still might be worth sticking his face on the cover.

I was thinking the other day, about the way DVDs and films use this angle of boosting up a minor appearance by someone later more famous. On the back of the Get Shorty DVD they use a still that includes James Gandolfini doing his brief appearance as a heavy, and I wonder if that got used purely because of his (subsequent) success in The Sopranos.

The most extreme example is the way that Total Recall would be presented from the mid 90s onward - as if the 2 stars were Schwarz and Sharon Stone. Sharon Stone wasn't a headline name when the film came out, and her character is killed off halfway. The lead female was someone else who has been afterwards demoted. When ITV showed it years later the still-montage they used for it suggested Stone was a co-star, which she wasn't.

The Mumbler

I thought about writing a lengthy reply in this thread about the implications of the cancellation of such a DVD, but...nah, can't be arsed.

Hello, Charlie, if you bother lurking these days.  Found a proper job yet?

Derek Trucks

Still think this will come out, but if it dosen't it's probably because anyone who wants it has probably already bought it for a fiver on er, other sites.

I never really had much to say about Barley when it was on, but yesterday it struck me that it could have been really good if it was set about 50/100 years in the future - Morris could have had a lot of fun with this idea and he would have probably got the budget for it too.  Not now tho....

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

I'm surprised Meet Ricky Gervais hasn't come out, actually - easily marketable, and most of the Animals/Politics fans would buy it thinking 'This'll be good'. Has Gervais blocked it? C4 repeated it a couple of years back ('See him before he became a megastar' went the trailers): I wonder if he tried to block it but failed?

I hope it does get a release, though. Alongside The 11 O'Clock Show Years.

13 schoolyards

I'm sure this will come out someday - if only because at the rate that both new shows and old rubbish are being released, fairly soon everything that was ever made by anyone will be for sale on DVD.  In fact, I would have thought that the DVD release (both the cost of releasing it and the expected revenue from it) would have been factored into the show's budget.  Which means that either A): it will have to come out and the real question is whether it comes out in a totally bare-bones version or one where someone's gambled even more cash on it by having some extras done, or B): it's been such a massive and total failure that the money men are willing to completely cut their losses and throw away any chance of future earnings from 'Nathan Barley'.

My money's on A) - after all, how many copies of 'My Wrongs' were sold*?  If B), then you'd have to wonder what Morris' chances were of getting any new project (well, any project requiring any kind of investment) up and running.

[edit]* supposedly it's sold 25,000 copies

The Mumbler

If it gets nominated for the BAFTAs or British Comedy Awards*, then maybe it'll get a release eventually.  My Wrongs got a release partly because there was barely any chance of otherwise seeing it - it only got a few screenings.  Also that was through Warp, so mega sales weren't an issue. TalkBack-Thames is a very different matter these days.

Although to be honest, what with Help, Look Around You, TV Burp, Dead Men Weds, there are far more deserving cult successes this year for awards and recognition.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

The DVD-release-factored-into-original-contract tactic explains all sorts of strange DVD releases, particularly from the BBC (why else would they release things like Wild West?). So yes, it wouldn't surprise me if this happened with Nathan Barley.

They'd have to put extras on, though, surely? They'd know full-well most of the target audience will be able to get hold of DVDRs if they really want them.

TJ

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"They'd have to put extras on, though, surely? They'd know full-well most of the target audience will be able to get hold of DVDRs if they really want them.

I don't know about that - Yoohoo Chrissikins seems to have an enormous problem (to the point of near-violent rage, it would seem) with the idea of DVD extras.

Jon_Norton

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"I'm surprised Meet Ricky Gervais hasn't come out


C4 gave it a rerun after the 1st series of The Office was such a major hit. It was trailed with adverts voiced by Tom Baker saying "A funny thing happened on the way to the office..." overlaying clips of The Office itself. When the episodes themselves were repeated they had to be preceded with explanations of what the topical bits would be referring to (as happened with repeats of Drop The Dead Donkey).

If it ever gets a DVD release I'd like the extras to include the trailers Ricky himself did for C4 when it went out - which involved him saying that C4 wasn't very good, and that "I'd like to hear from other TV stations - but not BBC2". Oh, the irony.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

I wonder, though, whether Nathan Barley being broadcast in the lots-of-people-having-DVD-burners-age (which Jam just missed) will mean there's less of a market for bare-bones DVDs?

The Mumbler

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"I'm surprised Meet Ricky Gervais hasn't come out, actually - easily marketable, and most of the Animals/Politics fans would buy it thinking 'This'll be good'. Has Gervais blocked it? C4 repeated it a couple of years back ('See him before he became a megastar' went the trailers): I wonder if he tried to block it but failed?

I hope it does get a release, though. Alongside The 11 O'Clock Show Years.

Maybe some of the celebs (Jimmy Savile? Tony Hart?) refused it.  Maybe the bloke whose theme tune got used demanded too much money.

13 schoolyards

Presumably there's a bunch of Barley stuff lying around that they could slap on as extras for next to nothing - all the website stuff, for starters.  Morris seemed to be able to dig up a fair few extras for 'Jam', and that was hardly a show full of all the 'classic' background details of Barley.  So plenty of posters, magazine covers, etc... but as for anything with any substance?  Or even silly / pointless Jam-style menus & stuff?  Probably not... unless Morris wants to give it a go himself on his home ZX80.

The Mumbler

Quote from: "Jon_Norton"If it ever gets a DVD release I'd like the extras to include the trailers Ricky himself did for C4 when it went out - which involved him saying that C4 wasn't very good, and that "I'd like to hear from other TV stations - but not BBC2". Oh, the irony.

Although pre-production on The Office pilot (if not the series) was certainly underway by Autumn 2000, which was when MRG was televised.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

How many people on here would be swayed into buying it if it featured a really early pilot version?

Even *I'd* have to think about it. And I bought the Never the Twain DVD.

13 schoolyards

I'd buy it no matter what. I kinda liked it.

[ducks tomatoes]

But the pilot is the kind of thing that Barley's failure will probably keep from our eyes.  Presumably it'll cost money to include (and this all boils down to money), and if the show was a stinker in it's finished form, why spend money to include an even more stinky early version?  I know I want to see it, but how many other people would pick it up and go "wow, extras include the version so bad they had to seriously re-work it to get the final, still-pretty-bad version - what a great selling point"?

(this all assumes that there is a pilot that's substantially different from the finished product)

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

But my thinking with pilots of shows I dislike is 'I wonder if the pilot was actually quite good?'. It's what I wonder about the (apparently 'far nastier') pilot of Bo'Selecta, which is conspicuous by its absence on the DVDs.

Jemble Fred

Quote from: "13 schoolyards"I'm sure this will come out someday - if only because at the rate that both new shows and old rubbish are being released, fairly soon everything that was ever made by anyone will be for sale on DVD.

Why does this cliché annoy me so much? I mean, it's obviously not true, but it really irks me every time it's trotted out.

Jon_Norton

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"It's what I wonder about the (apparently 'far nastier') pilot of Bo'Selecta, which is conspicuous by its absence on the DVDs.

Maybe the nastiness extends into legal issues that would preclude it ever being broadcastable?

Or perhaps it's being held back for yet another DVD release/repackaging-of-previously-released-stuff later on.

Peking O

The stuff that does/doesn't come out on DVD is always a source of bemusement to me. It sometimes feels like someone at one of these labels has flipped through an enormous back catalogue of work, stopped at a page at random, then haphazardly underlined a few titles for release. When DVD-Audio was launched, one of the albums chosen as an early release was by Motorhead. It's hard to imagine rabid Kilmister fans with a 5.1-sized gap in their lives rushing to the shops to snap up copies of that one.

Pinball

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"The DVD-release-factored-into-original-contract tactic explains all sorts of strange DVD releases, particularly from the BBC (why else would they release things like Wild West?). So yes, it wouldn't surprise me if this happened with Nathan Barley.

They'd have to put extras on, though, surely?
A plot?
;
-
)

The Mumbler

Quote from: "Jemble Fred"
Quote from: "13 schoolyards"I'm sure this will come out someday - if only because at the rate that both new shows and old rubbish are being released, fairly soon everything that was ever made by anyone will be for sale on DVD.

Why does this cliché annoy me so much? I mean, it's obviously not true, but it really irks me every time it's trotted out.

It's a rather lovely cliche though - and who would have thought that DVDs of TV shows would have taken off to the point where people are scarcely surprised at new releases anymore?  I mean, you have to admit, the past few years have been an incredible period for the format.  One we may not see again.

Jemble Fred

Quote from: "The Mumbler"
It's a rather lovely cliche though - and who would have thought that DVDs of TV shows would have taken off to the point where people are scarcely surprised at new releases anymore?  I mean, you have to admit, the past few years have been an incredible period for the format.  One we may not see again.

Well, quite. I do love the fact that you can go to HMV and buy Never The Twain or Filthy Rich & Catflap or Rumpole of the Bailey, but the all-encompassing 'EVERYTHING EVER WILL INEVITABLY BE RELEASED' line is utter nonsense. And I suppose it irks me because I'd like it to be true.

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

Yeah, it does often make me have 'If they can release x, how come they don't reckon there's a market for y?' thoughts.

But I'm constantly astonished. 'No, I doubt the complete Comic Strip will ever come out - it's too esoteric and not fondly remembered enough, and clearing all the different films would be a logistical nightma...ooh, what's this?'

13 schoolyards

Seriously, while obviously not everything ever is out on DVD, there is an awful lot of stuff either out now or coming soon - and at the rate at which shows are being released, barring accidents pretty much all of us will live to see a day when everything that still exists will be commercially available in some form or another.  Again, it gets down to money, and TV on DVD is (from what I've heard) the fastest growing segment of DVD sales.

Which means that if Barley doesn't get a release, it's a very, very big flop indeed.

[edit] yes, I know that we're in a golden age of DVD releases that will taper off soon enough - but I'd like to think that formats will continue to develop (and become cheaper / easier to release things on), so things will continue to become more available (even if they're slightly dodgy legally - I mean, everything out recently is available now, if you know where to look and have the technology).  Of course, we could also have a massive copyright lockdown, but even then, there's little point hanging onto old copyrights unless you plan to make money from them...

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

Quote from: "Jemble Fred"the all-encompassing 'EVERYTHING EVER WILL INEVITABLY BE RELEASED' line is utter nonsense.

I suppose a better mantra is 'EVERYTHING EVER *COULD CONCEIVABLY*  BE RELEASED'. Which is true - what stands in the way, apart from the obvious rights issues and so on, is convincing those with the money  that it's a good idea. And people have successfully done this.

Jemble Fred

Well, market forces are what counts, and they do exist. No matter what you overhear your parents saying on Xmas Eve.

The Mumbler

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"Yeah, it does often make me have 'If they can release x, how come they don't reckon there's a market for y?' thoughts.

But I'm constantly astonished. 'No, I doubt the complete Comic Strip will ever come out - it's too esoteric and not fondly remembered enough, and clearing all the different films would be a logistical nightma...ooh, what's this?'

I mean, I literally cannot afford everything desirable that's coming out in the next two or three months.  Comic Strip boxset, The Tube S1 (delayed, so my copy's in transit from Amazon HQ and has been for some time), more One Foot, Dad's Army, Steptoe and Hancock in August, Rock Profile, Alexei Sayle's Stuff, Help, At Last The 1948 Show and Do Not Adjust Your Set (and hands up who was honestly expecting those last two even six months ago), Simpsons S6 in September (hopefully without that shit packaging in the UK), and there are a few others I've forgotten about.  There are things coming out, like Brian Clemens' Thriller series (early 70s, ITV) that I've never even *heard* of, let alone never seen.  From the States, meanwhile, if you wanted such things, there are complete seasons of everything from the sublime (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Soap) to the ridiculous (Diff'rent Strokes, My Mother The Car) and beyond.  So I really do feel almost anything could get released on DVD right now.

Jon_Norton

Quote from: "Jemble Fred"Well, market forces are what counts, and they do exist. No matter what you overhear your parents saying on Xmas Eve.

So when is the F&L boxset coming out? I assume it will include the 1987 pilot show that wasn't in the first series.